Tag: Toronto Vegan

D-Beatstro is a community space, art gallery, cafe, event venue, and restaurant that opened a little over a year ago in the old Bike Pirates space. It’s has a relaxed friendly atmosphere, and a nice addition to Bloordale, and right across the street from the magical Through Being Cool Vegan Bakery. They have prioritized being both physically and financially accessible, especially for people throwing events. Which speaking as someone that likes to organize the occasional event – physically accessible event venues are something that are sorely lacking in our city. I’ve watched D-Beatstro improve and grow their offerings and options over the last few months and it’s been great to see them grow into having a really solid menu, kitchen, and coffee set up. As with any business, the beginning can be tough, and when you hit the ground running like these folks did and make improvements on the fly in that DIY style (and if not, you will likely fail) it can be stressful and not without hiccups. This community space, cafe, restaurant, and more, has managed to do that, and excel at it. I mention this especially if you visited them in the absolute beginning, and didn’t go back – simply to encourage you to visit again. That said, from the very beginning, they started out with great coffee (it’s from Dark City if you’re curious) – they knew what they were doing with that fancy espresso machine, and it was great to be able to go in there with my…

We checked out The Steady last weekend after a pal mentioned they did a good vegan-friendly brunch. It’s not an exclusively vegan spot, but it was nice to check it out for a change, and rumour has it, is run (owned?) by a former Hogtown Vegan chef, so I had some faith in the vegan options. When we walked in, the front section was full except for a table for two – perfect. There is tonnes of natural light, and it’s very light blue. We were immediately offered lattes or an americano which was exactly what I wanted at that moment. Coffee. Glorious fancy coffee. They have soy milk. They do charge extra (.50) for it. When JC & I looked at the menu one thing jumped out at me immediately – the cornbread waffle stuffed with greens (I love both cornbread and collard greens), so I ordered it, but unfortunately it turned out to not be vegan. I appreciated the server letting me know, and also appreciated watching him scratch off the little “V”s that had previously been beside the item on the menu. So really, in spite of my disappointment, the experience was positive. (and also inspired me to look for cornbread waffles to make at home and I found a recipe in Vegan Brunch.) Instead, I ended up ordering the Tofu Scramble, which I was ambivalent about (tofu scrambles can be so hit or miss), but it turned out to be lovely. Spiced, seasoned, and full of…

I’ll admit, I went to Superfood Eateries last week by accident. It just happened to be there on my walk home, and I just happened to be craving a bit of a pick-me-up. Serendipity really. The bright green sandwich board outside caught my eye, and there they were speaking my language (I like emphatic vegan wording, but “plant-based” works too), so I walked in and checked it out. One of the people inside was super helpful and friendly, and he gave me a run down of their products. He mentioned that they had a full menu on their website, and were rotating options to see what people liked the most. I sampled, then purchased the DiplomatiC – a cold-pressed juice blend of grapefruit, orange, and spirulina. Its sour citrusy goodness really hit the spot as I sat outside in the sun. While there is a small seating area inside Superfood Eateries, it was far too beautiful a day to stay inside. Other than colourful cold-pressed juices there are also a variety of To-Go options like raw pizza, and pad thai, as well as dehydrated snacks like kale chips, sweet potato chips, & other assorted magic. I also picked up a mini Pad Thai to-go bowl. Gluten-free. It’s got carrots, zucchini, red peppers, a gingery dressing, kelp noodles, nuts, and full of flavour. Prices were about the same as you’d expect from any raw-food take away place (not-inexpensive/moderate) but they do occasionally have things on sale for 30% off. They have…

This sunny weekend in Toronto we headed over to Kensington Market to go look at produce, okay no, we went to go to Hot Beans in hopes that they would have Boston Cream donuts. No luck on the Boston creams, but they had coconut lime, which still satisfied our quest for donuts, but still made me hope for a Boston cream filled Monday. I’ve walked by Greens Vegetarian Restaurant (638 Dundast St W, Toronto, ON) dozens of times, but I’ve never stopped in, or looked at the menu before this weekend. And as usual, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally did. There was only one person in the restaurant when we walked in, enjoying a giant bowl of soup, but on the bright side, an empty restaurant (ideally) means fast service. Looking over the menu, it isn’t exactly descriptive… or rather, it doesn’t seem descriptive until you actually get your dish and realize it was exactly as describe: simple (at least with the dishes we tried.) I should mention that this is not an exclusively vegan restaurant and some dishes have egg in them, but you can tell your server and they’ll take care of you. Another nice thing about Greens is that you can get 10% off with a TVA discount card. It’s been nearly a year since my last bowl of memorably delicious hot and sour soup (from Padmanadi in Edmonton) so I was happy to see it on Green’s menu, and even more pleased when we…